Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board View of Mt Whitney Very Blur

Is it fire smoke, or just the camera lens?
We are headed for Lone Pine for 9/19 summit. Really bad luck if it is going to be smoky without good viewing.

It is smoke from the Sheep Fire. My TEOM here at Fort Independence, at 6 am this morning, measured an unhealthy PM-10 reading of 80.18 ug/m3. That unhealthy measurement increased to 90.17 ug/m3 by 10 am this morning.

dmatt

what's amazing is that it is the very same fire that caused the smoke on this photo taken July 27th from Bighorn Plateau.

How high up does the unhealthy air go? Is this fire any threat to the MT on Whitney?

Brent N

The air quality in the entire Owens Valley, and the backcountry, has been severely effected by this fire. And with the prevailing winds, it's making for a nasty outside environment pretty much everywhere. While last weekend seemed to be a bit of a reprieve, Labor Day over Taboose Pass had limited visibility to around 5 miles in the afternoons:



I woke up that Monday morning with ashtray mouth. Ew.

Right now, I can't see up towards Bishop Pass, and Mt. Tom/Wheeler Crest is a mere shadow in the brown haze. Yum.

Dennis actually blurbed about the PM-10 levels today in his forecast:

http://www.easternsierraforecast.com/forecast/

You'll still get views, but count on them to be a bit hazy up there.

The diminished air quality - especially in the Whitney region is caused by winds out of the south west from the Canyon Fire near Bodfish-Lake Isabella. This is a bad one causing evacuations and has charred over 6000 acres so far with minimal containment. I would say the views aint gonna be pretty for the next few days.

What Tom didn't say is that we can't even see across the IWV right now. The smoke is THICK!

So, if things remain the same, is it bad enough that it is not recommended to hike Whitney this weekend? Thanks for any input.

That's a tough one as wind speed/direction plays a large role.

I did Whitney yesterday, and while the Owens Valley was so thick with smoke you could only see the tops of the Inyos, the ridge where Whitney is located remained in clear air all day. When I passed thru Trail Crest in the morning the air to the west and north was clear, and it was difficult to realize there was a major fire to both northwest and southwest (Isabella/Bodfish area). Then, about 2PM the wind shifted, and the smoke from the Sheep Fire started moving across the valley. But, it never reached the ridge where Whitney is located, so ... it's a bit of a crap shoot as to whether it will be smoky this weekend on Whitney.

Keep in mind the webcam is located in the smoky Owens Valley. That doesn't necessarily mean that it's smoky on Whitney itself.

Thanks for the reply Kevin. I realize it will be a crap shoot, so much will depend on the wind direction. It doesn't sound like the smoke hindered your hike as far as difficulty breathing in any smoke. Congrats on your summit!

Thanks, and fortunately there was no smoke to inhale, at least in the vicinity of the trail. If you do decide to go, maybe the Mountain Gods will provide a similar day for you.

Here's a link to a page of webcams which will provide real-time views of what the air is like in the Owens Valley near Olancha/Lone Pine.